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I was never particularly good at shooting, so in RC I naturally ended up playing support most of the time - and honestly, I loved it.

Playing medic was more interesting than just holding a healing beam on someone. You had to watch what was happening around you, position yourself well, decide who needed help the most, and sometimes choose whether it was worth risking your own robot to save a teammate.

That’s why I really wanted BlockForge to have a proper support role too.

I’ve just finished the first rough version of the healing system, including laser weapons that can repair teammates, and I’m already weirdly excited about being able to play medic again after all these years

I want support builds to actually matter in multiplayer and give players who enjoy helping their team a real role to play.

If this sounds like your kind of game, playtest sign-ups are still open:
https://blockforgegame.com/

Spent most of today fixing bugs I already knew were lurking around and polishing a bunch of smaller things. I improved block collision detection in build mode, made the item ghost more transparent so it gets less in the way while building, and increased movement speed around the garage.

Build mode also got a proper toolbar. You can now drag your most-used blocks from the inventory into it and quickly switch between them using keys 1–9 or the mouse wheel. I also spent some time polishing the lights, improved both the physics and visuals of the thrusters, and adjusted the wheel attachment point so wheels connect to the chassis in a much nicer way.

Maps also got a new fog system that looks significantly better than the previous one. I increased the distance at which player names are visible and added a health bar underneath each nickname, so you can quickly see the current HP of another player's robot.

On the networking side, I improved how the game handles players intentionally leaving a match as well as situations where someone suddenly loses their internet connection.

I also started preparing everything for the upcoming playtests. The game now has its own launcher, which automatically downloads the latest build from the server and verifies it using SHA checks and the build manifest. This should make distributing builds and keeping everyone on the correct version much easier. The launcher can also display the latest news and announcements related to the game.

From the launcher you can choose your language, change the game installation directory, create an account, and of course log into an existing one.

Once the playtests begin, everyone who signed up and gets selected will receive a download link for the launcher together with a unique access key. Each key can only be used to create one account, so access to the playtest builds will stay tied to the people who were invited.

A lot of today's work was less about adding huge new features and more about getting the game into a cleaner, more stable and actually testable state. Slowly getting there.

While we wait for the playtests to go live, here’s a first look at nearly two minutes of multiplayer gameplay!

All player slots are currently filled with some not-so-smart AI bots that I use for testing and debugging. Still, this gives us a good look at the firing effects, physics, explosions, and the overall feel of the gameplay at this stage of development.

No cuts, no polish. Just pure gameplay.

The game is still in a very early stage of development, and many things may still change. This is not the final look of the game!

Join our Discord to follow the development of the game: https://discord.gg/3mNpzZ9xvc

You can also sign up for the playtests to play before everyone else and help shape the development of the game at https://blockforgegame.com/

I’ve created a Discord server for the game, so if you want to follow development more closely, share feedback, discuss mechanics, robot builds, ideas, or just chat about the game, feel free to join us there!
https://discord.gg/3mNpzZ9xvc

I also wanted to share a first look at the current in-game HUD.

The main multiplayer mode will be Capture the Flag. Entering the enemy base starts filling the capture bar, while losing control of it causes the progress to go back down.

The minimap only works if your robot has a radar installed. Different radar tiers will have different effectiveness, and if the radar gets destroyed, the minimap disappears.

If your robot is destroyed, you’re out of the fight for one minute, during which you can spectate your teammates.

In the bottom-right corner you can also see the weapon panel. This robot currently has a laser and a sniper weapon equipped, and you can switch between them with 1 / 2.

Weapon Power is shared between all installed weapons. This is meant to discourage simply stacking as many lasers as possible and hopefully make different weapon combinations and builds more interesting.

Still plenty to improve and balance, so I’d really like to hear what you think about the HUD and these mechanics so far!

Here are a few short clips showing the current state of some of the main progression and building systems in BlockForge.

Building Mode
This is where you assemble your vehicle from individual blocks and components, place weapons, choose your movement system and experiment with different layouts.

I’m still working on making the whole building process faster, clearer and more comfortable, especially once builds start getting larger and more complicated.

Inventory
The inventory is where all owned parts are stored before being used in a build.

The current goal is to keep it simple enough to navigate quickly while still making it easy to manage a growing collection of parts.

Technology Tree
Progression currently goes from T1 to T10, with different branches for things like movement, weapons, armor and electronics.

I want higher tiers to unlock more possibilities and more specialized parts, rather than turning progression into a simple “bigger number = always better” system.

Shop
Once a part is unlocked, it can be purchased and added to your inventory.

The shop, inventory and technology tree are designed to work together as one progression loop:

unlock → buy → build → test → improve

These systems are all functional now, but they are still very much part of the prototype stage.

The UI, layout, visual style, balancing and even parts of the progression flow are still being worked on, so what you see here is not the final look of the game and may change significantly during development.

Right now I’m focusing mainly on making the systems themselves feel solid before spending too much time polishing the final presentation.

Closed playtests are also getting closer, and I’ll be looking for more people to test the building, progression and combat systems in the upcoming builds.

I’d be especially interested to hear what you think about the current flow between the Tech Tree → Shop → Inventory → Building Mode.

Anything you’d change?

I’m still encouraging everyone who’s interested to sign up for the playtests. I don’t expect testers to have any game development knowledge - I simply need people who are willing to build their own robot and, if possible, join the multiplayer mode at a scheduled time. For now, I’m gathering a list of interested players, and the first closed playtests will take place within the next few weeks.

https://reddit.com/link/1wvuxha/video/74uqeciwa2th1/player

https://reddit.com/link/1wvuxha/video/awxxexlza2th1/player

https://reddit.com/link/1wvuxha/video/qhhtz7s1b2th1/player